Study: Cruz supporters are more authoritarian than Trump supporters

[davidn3600]

Watch out, the authoritarians are coming!

That’s been the alarm, after recent reports that scoring high in authoritarianism was the strongest predictor that someone would support Donald Trump. “Authoritarian” has some strongly negative connotations. So it’s no wonder that anti-Trump pundits from Nicholas Frankovich to David Brooks have been quick to repeat this finding. What better way to equate Trump with Hitler?

But in our research, we find no evidence that Trump supporters are any more “authoritarian” (at least by common measures) than those who like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) or even Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.).

Instead, Trump’s supporters are distinctive in another way: They are true populists.

What’s the difference between authoritarians and populists?

Authoritarianism and populism are easy to conflate, but they actually refer to very distinct tendencies.

Authoritarianism, as understood by political psychologists, refers to a set of personality traits that seek order, clarity and stability. Authoritarians have little tolerance for deviance. They’re highly obedient to strong leaders. They scapegoat outsiders and demand conformity to traditional norms.

Populism, on the other hand, is a type of political rhetoric that casts a virtuous “people” against nefarious elites and strident outsiders. Scholars measure populism in a variety of ways, but we focus on three central elements:

Belief that a few elites have absconded with the rightful sovereignty of the people;
Deep mistrust of any group that claims expertise;
Strong nationalist identity

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/03/09/trumps-voters-arent-authoritarians-new-research-says-so-what-are-they/


This chart here represents the traits of the SUPPORTERS of the candidates. The traits are not necessarily based on the candidate themselves.

[Kalidurga]

1. That chart is spot on for me

We are the last patriots.

[AxionExcel]

2. God save us all from Wolves in Sheep's clothing

[underpants]

3. The graph seems reasonable. This article only focuses on 1 of 4 traits.

The Trump crowd fits fascism perfectly.

[Hortensis]

4. God is the ultimate authoritarian figure, of course,

so messages drawing a lot of devout religionists to Cruz and Rubio will tend to be authoritarian.

I don't believe Trump's supporters are simply "populist" without significant authoritarian overlap. Most conservatives have some authoritarian in them, social cons are practically synonymous with it. Trump has about 40% of the conservatives supporting him right now, and his bigoted promises are pulling in a lot of social conservatives. Also a fair number of those turning to Trump are religious also, not really a surprise given that what we call the "religious right" is almost entirely social conservatives.

In any case, they flock to his bossy, absolutist declarations, boo and cheer when he tells them to, and judging from behaviors we've all watched would be outraged at the Constitution if it stopped their great man from fulfilling his promises to "the people."

[ruralsteve]

5. Beware of fake-Christians like Trump and no less Cruz

There are a lot of 'em out there, some supporting Trump, some Cruz -- making a big show of how Christian they are -- but otherwise acting and speaking like they've torn all of the parables of Jesus out of their Bibles.

They say get rid of the immigrants and foreigners who don't believe like we do, when Jesus used the story of a Samaritan -- considered both a foreigner and a religious heretic among his own people -- to demonstrate how his Father expects us to treat our neighbor. That parable can't be in fake Christians' Bibles if they are saying build a wall on the border and block people of other faiths from coming here.

Applying especially to Cruz, and others who want to get rid of the separation of church and state, it is instructive to recall the trial of Jesus, just afterwhich the assembled crowds were asked whether the life of Jesus, or another Jewish prisoner should be spared. The majority, who wanted their religion to take governmental power from the Romans, shouted the for the life of the militant revolutionary, rather than a mere spiritual leader. It's not hard to imagine Cruz among them, shouting "Barabas, barabas!" ... not Jesus.

You don't have to be a Christian, or any sort of believer, to recognize this. Maybe you went to Sunday School, years ago, or decided to spend a couple of hours with the New Testament out of curiosity. It's easy to see this fakery among self-proclaimed Christians who don't know jack about their Savior.